


Don't Discount Your Happiness

by ProbablyJozo



Series: The Land of Soktropica [4]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Deaf Character, Gen, Sign Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:47:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22099699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProbablyJozo/pseuds/ProbablyJozo
Summary: Dav and Pollux talk about happiness.
Relationships: Kai Davoren & Ethryn Pollux
Series: The Land of Soktropica [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1410877





	Don't Discount Your Happiness

**Author's Note:**

> Hi I'm back I love these two too much
> 
> This is hardly edited because it was written at 2 in the morning
> 
> Also it's in present tense because I kept slipping into it and decided to just change the whole thing

“How are you so happy?” Dav asks.

The two of them are sitting on a cliff at the edge of the forest, half an hour before nighttime is due to hit. It’s become a tradition to have this quiet moment, taking in the sunset before the soulless come out. From midnight they would be in battle, so a moment of inaction brings a certain sense of peace.

“What do you mean?” Pollux signs, looking at Dav curiously. Even though there are vines around his ears so he can hear perfectly fine, Pollux still prefers to stick to sign, since it’s more natural and Dav can understand him well enough.

“I mean…” Dav’s hands stutter as he speaks, and after a measured pause he drops his hands and continues out loud. “You just, you’re just able to be happy about, like, the little things. I see you smiling more often than not. I just...I don’t get how you do it.”

Dav, not being fluent in sign language, always prefers to speak while he signs when he is talking to Pollux, although sometimes he drops the sign when he doesn’t know how to say something. Pollux can’t help but be impressed by how quickly Dav has picked up sign since they met—the rogue is a fairly fast learner when it comes to languages.

“Do you not know how to be happy, Dav?” Pollux asks, amusement showing clearly on his face.

“No, I…” His hands start back up again. “You seem to be able to find happiness in everything. I really don’t get it.”

“Happiness is a nice emotion,” Pollux replies. “Don’t you think? We need it to not go crazy. If I find it everywhere, that’s only a good thing.”

“...Part of my mind is always convinced that to be happy is to be ignorant,” Dav says, his hands skipping half the sentence because he’s too busy focusing on what he wants to say out loud. Pollux gives him a questioning look. “I always find the wrong thing, or the bad thing, and if you’re happy then you haven’t seen that yet, and that’s dangerous.”

There’s a lull in the conversation as Pollux thinks that over, and in that time Dav decides to take in the sunset before him. It really is beautiful, seeing the sky melt into different colours as the sun disappears, but he can’t help but notice the approaching darkness. Nighttime will arrive soon, and with it, the soulless that he hunts.

“I don’t think you’re right,” Pollux starts, catching Dav’s attention again. “We need happiness, and we need to not downgrade it to ignorance. Always be afraid and negative, and you become destructive. Happiness and curious excitement lead to creativity, and progress, and just a fun time in general. If you’re always negative, then you might end up crushing someone else’s positivity, and now two people are negative. Where do you go from there? Not a good place, that’s for certain.”

It takes a second to digest, and maybe he doesn’t translate everything properly, but when the message gets through Dav is left speechless.

“...You have a beautiful mind,” he eventually says, except this time he only signs it. He doesn’t feel ready to say it out loud, for whatever reason.

Pollux, despite noticing the change, doesn’t question it.

“I’m just saying what I think,” he claims, with a content smile. “Don’t discount your happiness as something stupid, alright? It’s not. Happiness is valid.”

“Happiness is completely fucking valid,” Dav mutters in repetition, partly because it’s funny and partly because he’s actually starting to believe it. He smiles when Pollux bursts into laughter.

“Exactly, you dog.”

It’s an odd name to call him, which is probably why Dav starts to chuckle as well, but it’s just part of Pollux’s charm. With a half-smile he might later argue wasn’t there, Dav looks back to the sunset—and despite how much darker the sky has become, he still focuses on the beauty of the blended light.


End file.
